Brown’s kind words and deeds during her first meeting with Paddington in the train station. British hospitality saved Paddington Bear, just like it saved the Jewish children on the Kindertransport. Paddington Bear was welcomed into the home of a British family-the Browns-after a precarious journey as a stowaway. Bond originally wanted the bear to come from Africa, but his agent was opposed, claiming there were no bears in Africa. Paddington Bear, however, hails from Peru. His suitcase is an emblem of his refugee status. Thank you,” Paddington embodies the appearance of many Kindertransport children. Known for his royal blue overcoat, striking red hat and tag that says “Please look after this bear. The images of the children arriving in the train station soon inspired the words that would bring Paddington Bear’s world to life. “It was really a case of putting something down on paper in order to get my brain working that morning.” “ When I wrote those few words, I had no idea quite what a change they would eventually make to my life,” Bond recounted, as recorded on his website. One morning in 1958, he was searching for writing inspiration and simply wrote the words: “Mr and Mrs Brown first met Paddington on a railway platform…” “So Paddington, in a sense, was a refugee, and I do think that there’s no sadder sight than refugees.”Īlthough Bond did not create Paddington Bear until two decades after he was confronted by the image of the Kindertransport children, they remained in his mind. “They all had a label round their neck with their name and address on and a little case or package containing all their treasured possessions,” Bond said in an interview with The Telegraph before his death in 2017. Over the next nine months, individuals of all faiths would collaborate as part of the Kindertransport to save Jewish children from the grasp of the Nazis.īond saw these children, many of whom would never see their families again, walk through Reading Station. After Nankivell’s first trip, almost 10,000 more children would find refuge in England. Guiding 196 Jewish children to the United Kingdom, Nankivell braved intimidation by German policemen and prioritized the safety of the children, who came from an orphanage the Nazis destroyed during Kristallnacht. In December 1938, Florence Nankivell led the first Kindertransport. But on November 21, 1938, the British Parliament allowed Jewish children under the age of 17 to enter the United Kingdom because of the antisemitism growing throughout Germany and Austria. Despite the imminent danger in Germany and beyond, visas were hard to come by, as few countries opened their borders to the Jews. Almost 100 Jews died during this night, and Germany only compounded these losses by confiscating all insurance payouts to Jews who had experienced property damage. He was particularly touched to see the children arriving in Reading Station, a transport center in Berkshire, after long journeys from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland in 1939.Īfter Germans destroyed Jewish synag ogues, homes, schools and businesses during Kristallnacht, many Jews wanted to flee Nazi influence. Bond served in both the Royal Air Force and the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army, and he frequented British train stations. Less well known is Bond’s inspiration for the heartfelt children’s book: the children of the Kindertransport. One of these fictions, A Bear Called Paddington, published on October 13, 1958, would capture the hearts of children across the globe for decades to come. Stories were as pivotal to Bond as the furniture in his home, fostering a love for writing and literature that inspired him to create his own narratives. As a young boy, he could not go to bed until his parents read him one.
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